I didn't really know we would win today. I just had faith. Blind faith, but it was faith. And right now, we are out of the relegation zone with twelve matches to play.

We can do this. It isn't for certain but we can. It's not for certain because West Ham didn't come to win today, they came and played Alex McLeish football but that wasn't why we won. We were actually fortunate to win today.

I say fortunate because Ciaran Clark stopped two chances from happening that were almost certain goal opportunities and Darren Bent also stopped a shot on the line, that was going in. We were fortunate because we did well.

We scored the goals, but West Ham had more shots. We took our chances and we definitely wanted it more and at the end, we deserved it. In the end and even though West Ham scored with three minutes of regular time remaining, it was nail biting.

The goals

So, before I go, a little something about the goals. The first was a penalty. N'Zogbia was brought down in the box and Benteke scored the penalty. The second was special, it was a free kick from 22 yards scored by N'Zogbia who just lifted it over the wall and put it out of reach of the West Ham keeper.

The West Ham goal came late on, but it was as I said, nail biting, but it came from Westwood, but it was a freak own goal, so I'm leaving it at that.

But I'm going to leave it now as I've got to be up proper early tomorrow and I still want to celebrate a little, because we're out of the relegation zone, but before I go, Weimann missed a sitter after a few minutes, but don't hold it against him, we all miss sitters every now and then.

The players

The stats

Author: Damian

Damian started The Villa Blog as a passion project quite a few years ago while he was living in South Africa. Now living in Sweden, it continues. He's originally from Chasetown and grew up when supporting Villa meant there was a real chance of silverware at the start of every season.

Guest - Vital_Loans

So Ireland has been found out to be a whinger, a sponger and lazy idle player that will never again play a season like he did 'once' eh? No surprise there, he had a good few minutes in a Villa shirt but he's not worth keeping hold of especially on his wages, the sooner he goes the better.

Guest - Mike Holte

"Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham: Hard-Fought Win a Turning Point in Season?"

'The strangest thing happened on Sunday afternoon.'

"Mark Clattenburg blew his whistle in the 94th minute at Villa Park, and a rousing cheer of joy and relief echoed from the stadium. On almost every other afternoon in B6, only groans and boos could be heard.

Aston Villa beat West Ham 2-1 on a weekend in which results could hardly have gone any better for them. Southampton upset the champions, but Reading, Wigan Athletic, Queens Park Rangers and Newcastle United lost.

The pressure was on, and Paul Lambert took his weekly risk. He gave Jordan Bowery his first-ever start in the English Premier League in a must-win game while Darren Bent warmed the bench—a decision which drew some derision on Twitter beforehand as fans feared the worst.

Positive from the outset, Andi Weimann missed a gilt-edged chance inside two minutes, and the regular sense of disappointment filtered in at Villa Park.

It was an easy opportunity that didn't fall for the Claret and Blue, and that's been the story of the season so far: As good as they've looked at times, naivety and misfortune hounds them at every turn.

It's worth noting that Sam Allardyce's team were simply awful in the first half. They failed to find a rhythm, their pass completion stood at a paltry 68 percent, and they didn't even manage to win a corner to test Villa's ropy back line.

Cue the fears, then, when Villa were unable to cap an excellent 45 minutes with a goal and the opposition were only going to get better in the second half.

True enough, the Hammers turned it on in the second half and had Villa under the cosh. The balls came flying in, but Villa refused to bow. Nathan Baker epitomised the spirit that embodied his side, playing through a gory head injury and remaining full-blooded in the challenge.

As Villa clawed their way back into the game, Lambert's flurry of substitutions helped.

Simon Dawkins made his debut and offered better width than Weimann and Bowery could, and Charles N'Zogbia finally came to life. It's easy to forget Villa have dormant game-winners in their side considering their position, but the Frenchman's brilliance won it today.

His weaving run earned a penalty that Christian Benteke slotted home in a Mario Balotelli-esque fashion, and then "Zoggy"'s free kick to double the lead was a beauty.

Other than three much-needed points and a serious injection of confidence, though, what can Villa fans take away from this game?

This was a different side. Defensively, Ciaran Clark, Ron Vlaar and Baker were superb. Lambert slotted all three in plus Bowery to help defend set pieces, and the determined attitude to deny West Ham a goal was refreshing.

Benteke scored for a fifth game in a row and, for once, wasn't culpable for conceding a goal through poor marking. He didn't see a lot of action but kept his head in the game and got the breakthrough.

Two months ago, Villa would have conceded a second after the unfortunate nature of Ashley Westwood's late own goal. They would have felt sorry for themselves and capitulated, but we're looking a refreshed side who believe in themselves.

A win has been coming. As soon as the errors were cut out, Villa were going to start picking up points. Said errors have cost Villa against West Bromwich Albion, Bradford City, Everton and Newcastle in recent weeks. It's no surprise to see a good defensive performance lead to three points.'

"The standard for the final 12 games of the season. Can Villa measure up?"

I have to agree with much of this article, Villa do seem to have picked themselves up a bit over the last couple of months, and there are signs that the team are now starting to play better. Not much better but better.

The first half performance against West Brom was inspriring as was Everton away. Our performance against West Ham again was better in the first half generally until we made the double substitution in the 2nd half that culminated in us scoring two goals.

I agree with the report that Villa would have folded over a couple of months ago and definitely conceded a 2nd goal or even a 3rd against West Ham on Sunday.

The general feeling amongst all Villa fans I have spoken to and reading various media reports is that the result on Sunday was just what we needed in order to kick on, it seems the belief that we are now looking more able to get out of this mess and escape the dreaded drop, more weekends of the sort we have just had is what we need we have to concentrate on winning our games but other results going in our favour are and will be a bonus - cautiously optimistic is how I now feel, inn saying all of that even if we do escape proper root and branch changes have to be made to our squad with those bad apples and those not considered good enough being shipped out and decent established player brought in. As for Paul Lambert? I would give him a chance next season (if we dont go down) with decent players at his disposal, in saying that we cannot go through this again so he would have to show a marked improvement from the off to keep his job. I hope the planning is starting already, remember the maxim: piss poor planning leads to piss poor performance, never so true when applied to football.

heres a little teaser for you guys and please be honest! If you knew that if Villa stayed up that RL was still gonna asset strip,sell Benteke and Nzog etc for big money and replace them with inexperienced players would you think it would be better if we hadve gone down or would you be prepared for another season like this one? And be honest please.

I've always maintained that going down was not an option as we could slip even further down and be left in the wilderness for many years to come.
Some seem to think we can go down and we will bounce straight back up, in an ideal Villa world that would be fine but, we could struggle in the championship and slip even further down, and as so many teams before us have found out the struggle continues for many years and, many have never returned to the top flight.
Sorry about the long reply, and, in answer to your question i would rather struggle where we are, unless there was a guarantee that we would bounce straight back up and not struggle for years to come, and to that there is no guarantee!

Guest - Vital_Loans

sjh

If you knew that if Villa stayed up that RL was still gonna asset strip,sell Benteke and Nzog

Asset strripping is when a company is purchased and then broken up and sold as their individual components to deliver a value in excess of the sum of the components. If the club elect to sell Benteke or Zog for big money in the summer that is NOT assest stripping. Benteke has just joined the club and Zog was worth very little last Aug. The club has worked with these players to increase their value and if they are sold on then that is just normal prudent management of a premier league football club. If Randy was to sell Bodymoor then that would be assest stripping but speculating that we might cash in on a player that we have just purchased and suggesting that this is assest stripping is very far of the mark.

Guest - Vital_Loans

windofchange

Your post #24057 is an interesting one. I tend to agree that this win could give us the confidence to move on etc. However, nothing has really changed at VP since Jan 1st. Back then most were calling for PL's head and were convinced that Villa would be relegated as our squad was simply not good enough and was Championship standard.

Why has this changed and why do people think we may actually stay up. Could it be that inheriting a ****e squad and trying to rebuild it, change backroom staff, change playing attitude, changing footballing philosophy while balancing the books and reducing the wage bill actually takes a little time. Might we have been too premature with our calls to get rid of PL after only 20 games?

Why has this changed and why do people think we may actually stay up. Could it be that inheriting a ****e squad and trying to rebuild it, change backroom staff, change playing attitude, changing footballing philosophy while balancing the books and reducing the wage bill actually takes a little time. Might we have been too premature with our calls to get rid of PL after only 20 games?

Its rather much more simple than any of that mate

Its quite simply some folk on here are extremely fickle, when we win, everythings good, players are good, the manager is good, and everything is ok with the world.

When we lose, everything is rubbish, players are crap, manager doesnt know what he's doing, PF is a fat pig who doesnt know what he's doing and Lerner is a tight arse who doesnt spend his money.

Naturally since we havent won many matches recently the tone of the blog is has been dire, hopefully it should be more optimistic for the next week and half until we play again.

Just because we have slightly picked ourselves up over three games does not alter the fact of our position in the league.
To which another manager would have made better use of the squad and mone pre-season. Plus being more tactically aware when naming the starting XI.

Guest - Vital_Loans

jonnah

I can't go along with the Lambert is ****e (just yet anyway). I genuinely don't know whether he is or not and I don't believe that too many people on this blog can either. All we can do is base our opinions of his past performances and the circumstances he has had to work with. Before coming to VP, PL won two successive promotions followed by a credible first season in the Premiership. Based upon this nobody can say he is ****e. He then joined Villa and has played 26 games, that's only 39 hours of competitive league footbal or about a week's work for most of us. He has brought in 10 new players for about 20m, one of which is potentially worth in excess of that already, he has cleared out a lot of the deadwood and is strating to get some good performances out of players that didn't perform last season (Guzan, Zog, Andi) and he is working under difficult financial constraints.

I am not saying that PL is going to turn out to be the manager that we all want but I do believe that we havent given him enough time yet. We need to give the guy 2 full seasons to prove his worth. Remember Alex was on the verge of the sack in 1986!

Vital_Loans: we showed against West Ham that we are capable of defending, something that has not been apparent until now in all honesty, never concerned about our ability to score goals as long as we created chances, it was all about our defensive frailties Sunday gave a glimmer that we can get over those frailties, yes there will be harder games to come, but as Villa fans we cling onto any amount of hope no matter how small.

Guest - expat007

Vital_Loans & jonnah

I can't go along with the Lambert is ****e (just yet anyway).

Although I will not agree with the SH1T comment, it is still obvious that he is not up to scratch when handling experienced Premiership players and his team selection and substitutions are at best middling.
He has never had the opportunity to manage internationals at his previous Clubs and what ever comparison some make with his time at Norwich they have never been or will ever likely to be a top class club.
During this break he will have the chance to rectify his mistakes. It looks like the first team squad is off to Spain and will play a friendly whilst there and this will be a great opportunity for all involved to bond together. This bonding will also depend on those disillusioned senior players playing their part, but he is the manager and he must lead to get everyone on board.
All those that post and read on here know that so far I have felt that Lambert has failed miserably as the Villa manager, yet I and I hope others are prepared to change our minds, although that will only happen if the results improve and they climb the table.
Until the Arsenal match he has his chance to show that he is the man to lead Villa for the remainder of this season an gain the time that those that support him say he needs to turn things around.

Guest - expat007

windofchange

but as Villa fans we cling onto any amount of hope no matter how small.

Absolutely, until The Villa are relegated there is always the expectation of Premiership football next season.
It going to be all uphill but we must not accept failure whilst there is life in the old dog!

The squad’s average age has fallen dramatically and a lack of big-game experience is targeted by opponents as a key weakness. Who's fault is that ?

Paul Lambert should be judged on his 25m pounds worth of transfer dealings which is considerably more funding than what he was given at Norwich, five or six players he's purchased as we have seen this season are not good enough. Not counting the January purchases.

We have the division’s worst goal difference.

I'm not basing my opinion on Lambert on his back to back promotions from the lower leagues and or his riding on the crest of a wave 1st appearance in the Premier League with Norwich.
If we're judging Lambert on this then you have to judge Paulo Di Canio exactly the same for what he has, and is doing at Swindon.

As I said expat007 until Sunday I had no hope given the thrashings we have had, but we did show an ability to defend yes against a p*ss poor West Ham but being a Big Sam team they threw a few balls in that we dealt with in the main quite well. So, one swallow does not make a summer, but as they say in football: you are only as good as your last game and for that reason the last game unlike any or at least many before it gave me that little bit of hope.

Guest - Bloggert

Guest - Vital_Loans

Jonnah

Yes it is Lamberts 'fault' the the team's average has been significantly reduced, though some people may 'credit' PL with achieving this as to attributing blame. It is also fair to say that through injury and or simply not stepping up to the mark that a number of senior players have not delivered (Vlaar, Dunne, Bent, Ireland, Zog & Given). Howver, the buck does stop with the manager and it is he that needs to plan and anticipate for these eventualities. In his first transfer window at Villa PL got this wrong but without the benefit of the clarity of hindsight I am sure many other would have got it wrong too.

In appointing Lambert we brought in a manager without Premiership experience (other than 1 yr with Norwich) who had demonstrated the ability to win and deliver throughout is playing career and his short managerial career. In doing so, Villa took a risk and it would have been a reasonable expectation that PL will need a bit of time to bed into the Premieship.

Yes things could have gone better but we are getting through this. I know people thing we have our weakest squad ever but I would disagree with that, I believe that last year's squad was worse. There are signs of improvement and I think that in order to judge PL properly we need to give him time.

@Bloggert

To be fair Benteke, Vlarr Westwood and Lowton have all been ok its only bennet n bowery

I agree and I would also add Guzan to that list. He was a free agent when PL joined and PL got him back on a free. That was a little coup!

A manager ultimately is judged on results, but for the first half of the season it had to be on the general style of play, also this season we have had a lot of new players, players in the main brought in by PL so when we judge the team it is PL's team if he gets criticism as a result it's what goes with the territory, PL himself must be the first to acknowledge that he has been in football long enough. If we do not show improvement as the season progresses there is more wrong at the club than we can all see, so the criticism of Lambert will reduce as a natural process unless we get worse or at least get no better.

Guest - Vital_Loans

jcv: its all about results now nothing else matters. A pretty display that gets us no points is not of any use, so when we win its simply 3 points closer to survival and a little hope nothing more nothing less. As for Lambert its a tough call, survive and that may be harder to call for him to stay, go down and his Championship experience may be invaluable.

Mcs***e was a known loser whereas Lambert is new to this, he has even said he will make mistakes but the big difference is he will not single out players to blame its always about the team but Mcs***e always blamed individuals to cover his own arse.

Guest - expat007

jcv

we will continue to be a struggling club.

Good afternoon Mate,
Struggling in the Premiership is what counts as there we might find a buyer with real cash. In the Championship, forget it as there is no Significance there! Staying up is all that matters even if its 17th and by one point.

Guest - expat007

Keith

but the big difference is he will not single out players to blame

When does he ever blame the team, its normally then have all put in 100% and the result went against us!!
Reminds me of Mrs Abraham Lincoln being ask by a journalist:‘Apart from that Mrs Lincoln what did you think of the play’
A narrow win at home against a side with a very a bad away record and all the stats against us and there you go waving again, I preferred it when you were drowning:D :D:D:D

We will not know until this season ends, If Lerner gives PL £25 million to buy players and he brings in 3 or 4 quality players like Benteke then I would imagine we would be in a reasonable position to push on. Probably not enough to challenge the big boys but enough for best of the rest and then we will see what Lerners intentions are when we need to go for the top 4 places.

Guest - Vital_Loans

keithj

I am with u on Faulkner. I agree that RL is not a footballing man and probably doesnt understand the game as much as others but these are not necessary qualifications to be a club owner. Randy's biggest error which I believe is still costing us dearly is his lack of recognition that our CEO is a problem and the fact that he is still in the job.

Guest - expat007

Keith

If Lerner gives PL £25 million to buy players and he brings in 3 or 4 quality

As always, well sometimes jcv is right, if he was going to invest he would have done it in the window to secure Villa’s Premiership status. Prior to the window opening I was so certain that he would find the cash to strengthen the squad and I was wrong, so wrong.
He appears to be totally disillusioned with his ownership of The Villa and he, you and virtually every Villa supporter cant wait to see the back of him. When it happens, which it will lets hope it not out of the frying pan ………!!
Hard to believe it as it happened after Ellis as we got the Yank. If you cant think it could not get any worse look across the City the Blue Noses have gone from the pan via the fire into the volcano.

It was reported everywhere that Lerner had made money available, all Lambert ever said in his interviews was that we couldnt agree a package what I am saying is who the f**k was doing the negotiating. I would also like to add that I have not said I would like to see the back of Lerner but would like to know what his intentions are for AVFC.

Guest - expat007

Keiththat Lerner had made money availableHow much? Finished up with a lower division French player and a nobody from Spurs.
The two that mattered, The Yank and The Fat Controller never said that funds were available. Lambert made it pretty clear that not enough was there so do we believe the Media, did they have Lerner’s telephone tapped

The Aston Villa chairman, Randy Lerner, has backed the club's manager, Paul Lambert, to reshape the squad and to reverse their poor form. However he added that, while the manager and the board have discussed transfer targets, none of them have come to fruition.

Aston Villa suffered back-to-back cup defeats against lower league Bradford and Millwall in the space of 72 hours and have taken only two points from their past six league games. They have been struggling with a young squad too and Lerner admits it is "frustrating" they have not made any signings.

"In the time that I've come to know Paul what is clear above all else is his strength of character and belief in his approach to football," Lerner said. "The Villa board knew that with Paul we would begin to address the club's multi-year lack of competitive stability by reshaping the squad with seven new signings in the summer.

"It has been rewarding at times this season although certainly frustrating as well, particularly recently. During January, Paul and the board have discussed a variety of players although nothing has yet materialised, which I know also can be frustrating as fresh players always give at least a sense of progress and optimism.

Guest - expat007

keithj

The above was Lerners statement

Don’t worry I saw the piece in the Guardian that attributed the words to Lerner, but looked everywhere and could not find where and when he had said or wrote it.
Was it one of those third party pieces? If you can show me a direct quote from Lerner I will be pleased to agree with you that funds were there, but I will still ask how much was available.

Given the paultry amount Lerner provided PL in the window I hold onto the hope that a buyer is lined up but the price will depend on which league we are in after this season, the players we brought in were at minimum cost and could be passed off as meeting our buying criteria without breaking the bank. A vain hope I know but still a real one.

Guest - DanielM

Can anyone tell me why Bowery was picked for the west ham game. He doesn't have any pace, not very good in the air, never shoots. Just looked scared, ad he gets picked ahead of Bent. Doesn't make any sense. Bowery is however very good at running forward 30 yards then back 20 and passing back 10.

Guest - Trinity London

1 pm Sunday when the team was announced i thought that team selection would struggle against the irons, I also stated its Lamberts decision `Live by the sword, Die by the sword` his decision paid off, albeit i thought Bowery looked awful and well out of his depth.

I think Lambert is a good manager, I give him the upmost respect for taking the job and facing an up hill struggle from the off, I think he is learning and although i dont know the man i get the impression he would tell you that himself.

JCV

as for lambert,im afraid he does suit lerners fit.but as for being a top manager,im afraid he is well short.
if he was that good,he would have walked after not being backed in the transfer window.

I always like your comments JCV yet i cant agree with this one, I think that was a catch 22, if Lambert had of walked everyone would of said he bottled it and he would probably dissapear down the leagues, like many others that have failed in the `Big ` league, I would see it as by not walking Lambert has shown major backbone in sticking to the job in hand, and if Lerner has pulled the plug on money agreed then even more respect to him.
Another theory is Lambert is convinced the current squad will keep us up, with money being tight he did not want to panic buy and undo this seasons sacrifices so he has a clean slate and genuine funds to go properly into the market this summer, I hope this is the case.

Not getting carried away with the huge task ahead, lets get behind the lads and the manager.

I see what JCV means if Lambert was a top manager he would not risk the mess he has with us before getting out and jepordising his chances of getting another top job. As it is he could be in The Championship for years if he stays with us. He must be seeing something we cant or know something we dont.

Guest - Bloggert

Guzan

Not optimistic at all. Those games you mentioned above are winnable... and if we have broke the camels back as lambert put it we should be able to get at least 3 or 4 wins from those... anything against utd,city, liverpool n chelsea will be a bonus.

Just a thought, but, god forbid that the team does get relegated, our current manager has plenty of experience at that level to know what to expect on the levels of work involved from an non-forgiving Championship schedule?

It's hard for me to remark to much on the season as I've been on the road pretty much since the season started, but from what I've briefly seen & read, I'd take PL for another season if not another 3 or 4.

Some managers need to be worn in for the magic to happen, perhaps the same applies to Mr Lambert.

Let's not forget what he's achieved (prior to 2012-2013) with back-to-back promotions.

Guest - expat007

Good morning all,LAMBERT:
The only reward Lambert should get if The Villa are relegated is his farewell Golden Hand Shake and a P45. Lambert would then be on a par with failed Bankers getting paid for his failure.
Lamberts job is keeping Villa in the Premiership not taking us down into the Championship.
The Ginger Scot kept Villa up and got the boot why should Lambert if he takes us down not receive the same? Is it because one was an ex Blue Nose if so there is no logic in that.

Guest - expat007

I think the reasoning behind not sacking Lambert if we go down is that we've had a new manager each season so far and continuing the trend obviously isn't working. Lambert also seems to have a plan which is better than McLeish just parking the bus ever match.

And what's the chance of a manager next season being another Fergie that could turn this around? I'm honestly thinking that we're gonna have to stick with Lambert else the musical chairs of managers will just keep going on.

Guest - expat007

Guzan

I think the reasoning behind not sacking Lambert if we go down is that we've had a new manager each season so far and continuing the trend obviously isn't working.

Chelsea have had more managers than The Villa I dont see them in the fu*king relegation zone.
There is no logic in keeping a failed manager. If he had been given the job at Christmas I could understand it a little more, but he has been in power since June that’s nearly nine months and with friendly’s has played well over 30 matches.
He have spent well over £20 millions much more than many other clubs above us and by all accounts he has lost respect of the senior players, he has been given enough rope to hang himself three times.
If you can remind me of another Premiership manager that has had such bad results and not got the sack, please enlighten me as I cannot!
I could give a sh*t if he is a nice man, a shirt lifter, a wife beater or whatever all that concerns me is a successful Aston Villa.

jcv Good afternoon, yes they are still with us. As Wogan used to say 'is it me' is it me????'

You're definitely right about the money that Lambert has spent for these results. I'm not a massive Lambert supporter or anything. Thinking about what beef said earlier that if we back him for at least another season we might see results.

And yeah, Faulkner/Lerner seem to be the main problem but I don't think we can do anything about that.

Guest - Trinity london

Laudrup would never come to Villa Park, and why would he, we are all in dream land about what great benefits the Aston Villa hotseat offers, the only things it offers are Nervous breakdowns, paranoia, and dead cert health issues, its a poisened chalice, FULL STOP.

YES we are a Big club and there is always a chance some one will crack this very concrete like nut, however with Lerner doing the obvious who ever is given this task gets my respect, Lambert was obviously offered financial perks to undertake this task thats why he left Norwich, but i think its S**T or bust with this job, consider the life he had at Norwich and consider the task he has bravely undertaken here.

Guest - expat007

FERGUSON v LAMBERT
Man U had 7 managers in 7 years before Fergie took charge. More than The Villa.
Fergie never failed at Man U and I get fed up reading those on here who try and compare the early days of Sir Alex Ferguson’s at Manchester Utd with Paul Lambert at Aston Villa this season.
It was said that Fergie was in trouble one season and that was 1988/9.
If Ferguson was in dire trouble that one season let me remind that Man U finish 11th with 51 points and won the FA Cup in that poor season. This was his worst season in the Premiership (11th and 51 points) and I would love for Lambert to emulate him in his worst season! No fu*king chance, Rab C Lambert could not lace up Fergie’s bootlaces, get real.
Have a look at the following;He has won 48 trophies as a manager, making him the most successful British football manager in history.
St. Mirren
Scottish First Division (1): 1976–77
Aberdeen
Scottish Premier Division (3): 1979–80, 1983–84, 1984–85
Scottish Cup (4): 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86
Scottish League Cup (1): 1985–86
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1982–83
UEFA Super Cup (1): 1983
Manchester United
Premier League (12): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11
FA Cup (5): 1989–90, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
League Cup (4): 1991–92, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
FA Charity/Community Shield (10): 1990 (shared), 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
UEFA Champions League (2): 1998–99, 2007–08
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1990–91
UEFA Super Cup (1): 1991
Intercontinental Cup (1): 1999
FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008
Individual
LMA Manager of the Decade (1): 1990s
LMA Manager of the Year (3): 1998–99, 2007–08, 2010–11
LMA Special Merit Award (2): 2009, 2011
Premier League Manager of the Season (10): 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11
Premier League Manager of the Month (27): August 1993, October 1994, February 1996, March 1996, February 1997, October 1997, January 1999, April 1999, August 1999, March 2000, April 2000, February 2001, April 2003, December 2003, February 2005, March 2006, August 2006, October 2006, February 2007, January 2008, March 2008, January 2009, April 2009, September 2009, January 2011, August 2011, October 2012
UEFA Manager of the Year (1): 1998–99
UEFA Team of the Year (2): 2007, 2008
Onze d'Or Coach of the Year (3): 1999, 2007, 2008
IFFHS World's Best Club Coach (2): 1999, 2008
IFFHS World's Best Coach of the 21st Century (1): 2012
World Soccer Magazine World Manager of the Year (4): 1993, 1999, 2007, 2008
Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year (1): 2000
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award (1): 1999
BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award (1): 1999
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award (1): 2001
English Football Hall of Fame (Manager) : 2002
European Hall of Fame (Manager): 2008
FIFA Presidential Award: 2011
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2011–12)
Manager of the Decade
Most Coaching Appearances (392 games)
FWA Tribute Award : 1996
PFA Merit Award: 2007
Mussabini Medal : 1999
Orders and special awards
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE): 1983
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE): 1995
Knight Bachelor (Kt.): 1999

You would not see the the squad’s average age falling so dramatically, meaning a lack of big-game experience is targeted by opponents as a key weakness.

Laudrup would use the funds available to buy players a lot better than what Lambert has done, Laudrup would be able to attract a better kind of player due to his reputation, plus we would see more players from the Scandinavian regions such as types of players similar to Melberg and Laursen wanting to come and play for us.

Guest - expat007

Alright mate, true we're only as big as our ambitions.
I'm going on the basis that 25m has been spent this season.
Which even if Lerner was here next season, I would assume that funds are to be invested again next. Even though nothing was spent in January.

No manager will walk into a club that has struggled for 3 seasons the way we have and turn it straight round - if there is anyone capable of that he would be a genius, also we have to recognize as I have that the players simply are not good enough - cant really see any point of a new manager next season who is likely to fail with the squad we have, because unless Randy is going to provide £100m +, no one is going to change anything. Somewhere, sometime we need to start having continuety sacking crap managers season after season wont give us that as each manager will only bring in another bunch of crap players. Sticking with what we have if there is no real money is our best chance of moving forward, sadly cashing in by selling our best player and re-investing the money each season - not what any of us want but unless and until Randolph decides he wants to spend again we are just going in an ever quicker downward spiral.

jcv
Agreed that Lerner wasn't prepared to invest when needed most but how much of it was down to players not wanting to come?
The lead up to the January window and during the window was catastrophic on the pitch.
My take on it is that there has been a large amount of money already, and will happen again being taken off the wage bill.
Who know's if Lerner had told Lambert you have 25m to spend this season and that your lot?
But then as we heard in the media supposedly there was 10m for January ?

If there is no money in the summer for new players then agreed he's lost interest.
Hope this is not the case.
And as you say the best all round from what seems to be happening is if we do get a new owner.

Fergie - "3 years of excuses and it's still crap - ta-ra Fergie". Remember that?
Moyes just avoiding relegation in his first and third seasons with Everton.Roberto Di Matteo winning the CL with Chelsea after only a few months in charge.
Me winning the CL on the xbox with Villa after only 2 weeks.

At the moment Aston Villa are a club in constant turmoil Summer after Summer season after season. No decent player or manager for that matter will want to join us, I dont think Lambert is the man for the long term, but neither do I now think constantly shelling managers like peas is the answer.

pitbull inferno: Martinez is a manager who skirts the bottom 3 sooner or later if he is to be considered a decent manager and wants a bigger job he needs to prove he is capable of more than just escaping relegation season after season his squad at Wigan is not the worst in the PL and all he ever does is struggle.

I would be happy to change managers at this point if we had an Owner/CEO capable of hiring and keeping someone decent and providing the necessary investment. They've had the opportunity to do that 3 times so far - we were a top six team when we started. As it happens, I think their last choice was the pick of a bad bunch.

I wouldn't trust seeing who'd they try and bring on board next time. Especially in the position we're in.

Guest - christhevillan

I love Villa to bits and no matter what division we play in it makes no difference to me i'd never stop going to watch us but in the premiership we are no longer a big club we are a medium club at best that is being mismanaged and people still go on like we are Real Madrid.

jonnah: McLesih was a crap manager, I did not want him for that and only that reason, I was happy when he went because I like many others expected the new manager to have a war chest as that was what was being suggested and I actually was impressed by Lambert's Norwich especially against the better teams, I was wrong on both counts had I known what was to come I would have been happy to keep McLeish at least we did not ship goals ok we did not score many but we would probably have drew more than we lost this season so would have been clear of the drop.

I love Villa to bits and no matter what division we play in it makes no difference to me i'd never stop going to watch us but in the premiership we are no longer a big club we are a medium club at best that is being mismanaged and people still go on like we are Real Madrid

jonnah: McLesih was a crap manager, I did not want him for that and only that reason, I was happy when he went because I like many others expected the new manager to have a war chest as that was what was being suggested and I actually was impressed by Lambert's Norwich especially against the better teams, I was wrong on both counts had I known what was to come I would have been happy to keep McLeish at least we did not ship goals ok we did not score many but we would probably have drew more than we lost this season so would have been clear of the drop

PL is still better than Mctwit. you may not agree or like PL's plan, but at least he has one. Mctwit was just hoof it up the pitch and play 7 defenders in the team, do you not remeber the midfield of warnock clarke and herd? Yeah i would still rather have PL

I would be happy to change managers at this point if we had an Owner/CEO capable of hiring and keeping someone decent and providing the necessary investment. They've had the opportunity to do that 3 times so far - we were a top six team when we started. As it happens, I think their last choice was the pick of a bad bunch

Some people act like we were top of the table before that money grabbing git Lerner took us over, stole all of our money and ran off back to america???

We were 16th and just avoided relegation, so tell me again why all this hate for Lerner?

Agreed that Lerner wasn't prepared to invest when needed most but how much of it was down to players not wanting to come?

I think its obvious Lerner gave Lambert a budget of 20million in the summer and he spent it all in one go. Then in January Lerner said you have to sell before you can bring anyone in, so he got Mutton and warnock off the wages, which freed up room for wages, but very little in actual cash, meaning we still coulnt really sign anyon

No manager will walk into a club that has struggled for 3 seasons the way we have and turn it straight round

Blank statements like these are just tosh, Harry Wellyface, went to QPR who were bottom of the league on only 7 points without a win, This isn't the 80's anymore, if you offer someone enough money they will still come.

january,was a sign of things to come.if lerner wasnt prepared to invest when we needed it most.
i cant see anymore coming in the summer.
he wants out,thats my take on all this.one visit to villa park this season.
the novelty has worn off

You said that last year when we we only signed Robbie Keane on a loan in Jan, yet we still spent 20-25million in the summer.

Every time I go to post something, you post a rant about something slightly different. You're quoting pretty much everything from yesterday

I dont have time to comment everyday but i do generally check the site everyday, but when i get a chance (about once a week) i like to come on and comment on what people have said. Its tough, some people have their opinions and bang the drum about them, it can become like beating a dead horse, especially when they dont let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Sometime its just some good old fashioned F I C K L E fan supporting, great when we win, **** when we lose.

Being a " new" old boy to this blog ,so thank you for the opportunity to express my view ,I would argue against throwing money into the transfer bucket and ending up with players on a par with what we already have .
I think the problem lies at the training ground . Through out our history we have been at our best when we played to our strengths , in other words forwards ran the opposition ragged and defenders ensured that any counter attack was snuffed out before to much damage was done. Now it seems that it all about playing in position and maintaining a formation which is so predictable that it makes the other teams game play reasonably easy .
Now I am not sure if it is the fault of the manager in pursuing such a policy or the players for not pointing out the obvious and attempting a little free enterprise but the sad fact is that we will have to play with a lot more commitment in the lower division than is being shown at present to avoid going down further .
Just a footnote on the owner . The late Doug Ellis had a strange idea of when a manager needed replacing but at least he acted with a degree of predictability ,the present incumbent might as well live on the planet Zog for all the use he is .

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